By NITZ ARANCON
with GENEVIEVE CANTOR
Correspondents
IT took firefighters some 19 hours to put out the fire that broke out at Kaking department store housed in a building owned by the Limketkais on Osmena St. near Cogon market.
The fire broke out at around 2:45 pm on Sunday but it took the local fire bureau until 10:05 am yesterday to declare a “fire-out.”
Authorities placed the damages between P1.5 million to P2.2 million.
Fire Chief Insp. Rommel Villafuerte, head of the local fire bureau, said no one was hurt in the fire that reached “third alarm.”
The fire was under control at around 4 pm on Sunday–meaning, firefighters have prevented it from spreading to other establishments–but actual firefighting efforts lasted for hours because the department store had many highly combustible materials, said Fire Senior enior Insp. Rafonsel Anito, chief of the City Fire Station 1.
SPO1 Dennis Dales said the fire started at the third level of the building where the establishment kept many plastic materials.
Dales said investigators were still looking into the cause of the fire. He said samples of the debris were taken for laboratory examination.
Dales said investigators did not rule out the possibility that the fire was a result of faulty electrical wirings but they have also taken note that another Kaking branch on Yacapin St. was destroyed by fire earlier this year.
The department store is owned by businessman Ricky Go.
EXTINGUISH. A fireman snuffs out the embers at the Kaking department store on Osmeña St. near Cogon market that was destroyed by a 19-hour fire that started on Sunday afternoon until yesterday morning. (PHOTO BY NITZ ARANCON)
Disclaimer
Mindanao Gold Star Daily holds the copyrights of all articles and photos in perpetuity. Any unauthorized reproduction in any platform, electronic and hardcopy, shall be liable for copyright infringement under the Intellectual Property Rights Law of the Philippines.
